Killesberg Urban Quarter – Stuttgart Building, Germany

Killesberg Urban Quarter Stuttgart, Germany

Development by various Architects in southwest Germany

21 Jul 2009

Killesberg Urban Quarter

Competition win for the new urban quarter Killesberg in Stuttgart

David Chipperfield Architects has (along with the project developer Fürst Development and the architectural practices Ortner & Ortner Baukunst, B&E Baumschlager-Eberle, and Kees Christiaanse Architects & Planners) won the competition for the new urban quarter ‘Zukunft Killesberg – Think k’ on the Killesberg hill in Stuttgart, based on a masterplan by Ackermann & Raff.

The location is the former site of the city’s trade fair grounds, and is adjacent to the State Academy of Art and Design and the Weissenhof Estate.

The new quarter mainly comprises residential buildings, in addition to an office building with retail space. David Chipperfield Architects has designed a freestanding residential building which forms the northern boundary for the quarter’s square. The building comprises seven residential floors and a two-storey day care centre which faces the park. Interior courtyards, cut into the building, function as protected outdoor areas and extend the common areas of the day care centre. On the long west façade, the 15 apartments have loggias and terraces which look towards the park.

The facades of the new building are planned in whitewashed brick as a reference to the colouring of the Weissenhof Estate.

Construction is due to start at the beginning of 2010, with completion planned for the beginning of 2012.

KCAP part of winning team for “Zukunft Killesberg – Think k” Stuttgart

Rotterdam/Zurich, July 21, 2009 – KCAP Architects&Planners is part of the winning team of international architects who worked together with project developer Fürst Developments in the European investors’ competition “Zukunft Killesberg – Think k” Stuttgart.

B&E Baumschlager-Eberle

Barkow Leibinger Architekten

David Chipperfield Architects

Kees Christiaanse Architects & Planners

Ortner & Ortner Baukunst

With this decision, the Municipality of Stuttgart (Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart) gives the start signal for the realisation of a new city quarter on the hill of Killesberg, close to the famous Weissenhofsiedlung. Between 2010 and 2012 a mixed-use program with a total of 50.000 m2 gross floor area will be developed, comprising housing, offices, restaurants, retail, day-care, a city hall and the community centre Forum K.

Four internationally renowned architects, grouped as ‘Neuer Werkbund Killesberg’, developed their individual architectural concepts based on a masterplan by Ackermann & Raff und Projekt GmbH. Joining together in this way, their working practices reflect the tradition of the architects of Stuttgart’s Weissenhofsiedlung. The architects within this group are: KCAP Architects&Planners (Rotterdam/Zurich), David Chipperfield Architects (Berlin/London), Ortner & Ortner Baukunst (Berlin/Vienna) and Baumschlager Eberle (Lochau/Vorarlberg). In addition, the multi-functional SCENARIO-building by Barkow Leibinger Architekten (Berlin) belongs to the developments on Killesberg.

Within this framework, KCAP designed three differently sized and sculpturally shaped apartment blocks with stepped roof terraces. The differentiation of the buildings provides individualisation and identity. The concept allows for various apartment types, from classical floor plans to open spaces. Each apartment profits from daylight from three sides and has direct visual contact with the surrounding park.

In the exterior spaces the theme of terraces creates a variety of heights and modulations in the terrain and provides for a differentiation of public circulation spaces, semi public resting areas and private spaces. Terraces and gardens form a smooth transition between inside and outside spaces. The position of the volumes within the ensemble creates various views within and to the surrounding park.

The villas will be executed in solid masonry construction with a light colour brick. The same material will be used for the edging of the gardens and parts of the pavement. The facades of the three volumes present different relief techniques in the masonry to highlight the individual character of each building.

KCAP’s design is part of a coherent architectural complex which follows the goal to develop a new city quarter with a creative atmosphere and the highest possible quality for living.